Pre-Engineering Courses on the Horizon at Hortonville High School
The Project Lead The Way, Inc. (PLTW) is a not-for-profit organization that promotes pre-engineering courses for high school students. This ever-growing program provides instruction to more than 500,000 students at nearly 3,500 schools. PLTW hopes to reach more than 1,000,000 students each year by growing to 10,000 implementations by the 2015-16 school year. There is a critical shortage of engineers and engineering technologists entering the profession at a time when technology is reinventing itself every few years. The number of job openings is increasing due to the surge in the technical fields; however, today more than 1.3 million engineering-related jobs are left unfilled. PLTW’s goals include increasing the number of young people who pursue engineering and engineering technology programs and reducing college attrition rates within four and two year engineering and engineering technology degree programs.
In the past year, the HHS technology education department has been researching and working toward the addition of PLTW course work and an update of the current trades related courses to include a focus on new technology and 21st century skills. Over the next 5 years, the department’s goal is to develop an array of curriculum that best meets our student’s needs to help them succeed in the 21st century.
Two of the course that are planned to be implemented 1st at HHS are the two PLTW foundation courses called Introduction to Engineering Design (IED) and Principles of Engineering (POE). The Wisconsin DPI has established a science equivalency process for POE in which a technology education teacher can teach these classes and students earn equivalent for science credit. This credit is also being recognized by the UW-System admission offices. More information can be found on http://dpi.wi.gov/te/terp.html .
There are many advantages for students who are enrolled in PLTW classes. These students taking PLTW courses . . .
- Receive training in state of the art technology, including computer software and equipment used by industry
- Participate in a hands on, learn by doing program that utilizes team efforts
- Enroll in a sequence of courses which may include design, digital electronics, principles of engineering, computer-integrated manufacturing and a capstone technologyresearch project
- Learn how to work as a team with fellow students to solve real world problems
- Reinforce their study of math and science by learning the relevance of these subjects through application projects
- Develop skills in making presentations to communicate their ideas
The PLTW courses are recognized by many engineering and technical colleges in the state. The following schools offer credit to high school students for successfully completing these engineering related PLTW classes:
- Milwaukee School of Engineering does honor PLTW classes for credit at their school
- UW-Madison school of engineering accepts PLTW credits
- Wisconsin Technical College System honors PLTW credits
- UW-Stout honors PLTW credit with a 2-credit class
Overall, high school students who successfully take PLTW courses exhibit a strong desire to learn and be productive members of the workforce and our community. They receive a head start on their engineering education and are more likely to continue their studies in that profession. These graduates will become tomorrow’s leaders in the technology fields, working together to assist industry and the country to become economically strong. For more information, please visit www.pltwwi.org or contact Jeff Lebeck at jeffreylebeck@hasd.org or 920-779-7733, ex. 12154.
|